Hello! In the process of getting the lap band currently and have been snooping around for information. I noticed that most everyone says no drinks while eating (because it allows you to eat more). What is the protocol for drinking before you eat? does it make you eat less, the same, or more? Does having a drink after you eat just make you hungry again?

I have always been a big drink person during all of my meals. curious as to having drinks before or after meals and how it effects you!

Thanks for your answers!!

Have a great day!

You shoud not drink an hour before and after you eat. The purpse s to allow the food to stay in your stomach for as long as possible and not wash it away with a drink.

Well, I drink right before and right after. Sometimes I'll have a glass of wine with my meal. Your doctor will tell you what his protocol is with drinking. Most docs won't allow 30 minutes before and after and none while eating. Some docs are fine with eating and sipping and drinking before and after. Follow your doctors orders.

It's an individual thing. In some countries, drinking with meals is part of the program. In the US it's generally not. If I'm at a social occasion, I will drink as I nosh. At a dinner party, sometimes the host will have certain wines to drink with each course, I enjoy that experience, too. At home, I don't usually drink with meals, but recently my GI doctor had told me to drink with my meals because of a motility disorder. It doesn't seem to affect how much I eat or how long I'm satiated.

I am an over drinker, iced tea or water. My doctor told me no drinks for 30 minutes before and after every meal. It was a hard habit to break but I am getting good at no drinks. My hardest time is Chinese restaurants because I love Chinese tea. Just ask your doctor and or dietitian. They all have different rules.

If you go to the support groups offered, that is a great subject to bring up, also. I went to the groups for 9 months before I had the Band and loved them all and learned a lot. I still go to them.

I was told by my doctor that Water goes right through the band, so I could drink right up to before I eat. While I eat and after for 30 min don't drink- why I ask- the answer was- that drink pushes food through the band preventing you from getting the satiated single to the brain saying I have had enough.

I would ask your doctor and nutritionist and see what they have to say. Seems there is a lot of back and forth, but the one constant seems to be don't drink while you are eating.

I was told that it doesn't make a difference for lap band.

It's more for the bypass or sleeve but as you can see above you ask 10 different doctors you get 10 different answers.

Personally I wouldn't drink during a meal but B4 or after Eeeh, I'd play it by ear. That's just for me though.

Could not stay away from this one....here goes, another opinion...but this from my own personal experience....

Answer is, depends upon how tight your band is...I'm snacking right this minute and I feel the food sitting in my pouch..it will pass, slowly..that's why I take small bites and wait between swallows...put the fork down. And what I don't finish in 20 minutes goes in the trash...or my Happy Dog! (Golden Retriever)

However, if the food is sitting in my pouch, it takes up a certain volume - space....now add Water and I've just INSTANTLY increased that volume...perhaps doubled it...

Three things can happen that I will experience....First, it may wash it down,(maybe, but not too often)....

Second it will create a lot of pain, probably dilating - expanding my pouch size (dangerous), and

Third, along with pain, it will come right back up and out - overfilling and nowhere else to go.....I've learned all three the hard way...

Pain is common to all three and the body's way of telling me to modify my behavior....Don't drink and eat at the same time, or immediately after...

But again, what I am saying is based purely on what I have learned from experience, not what I have been told or read...it may/will be different for other people...

As far as liquid passing right through the band, I do not believe that. If so carbonated drinks would not be that big of deal. But they can be if you don't know what you're doing....

When I drink straight liquids I can also feel that in my pouch and pass through the band, and hear the gurgling like water circling the drain....tighter in the morning, my first coffee when the house is dark and everyone else is still sleeping is a real trip!

And if I gulp water, (at the gym and not thinking) even without food present, it too has come right back up...again with pain, I have to sip water...

think of a funnel with a narrow passage. Cannot put anything in the top portion too quickly or too much.....and your pouch is elastic, it will stretch, and hurt.

Everyone has a different size funnel...it's adjustable...so the experience cannot be identical from person to person, but sometimes very close.

But again, it all depends upon how tight your band is...for those without a fill you can get away with more than someone who is out there on the edge..like me.

Could not stay away from this one....here goes, another opinion...but this from my own personal experience....

Answer is, depends upon how tight your band is...I'm snacking right this minute and I feel the food sitting in my pouch..it will pass, slowly..that's why I take small bites and wait between swallows...put the fork down.

However, if the food id sitting in my pouch, it takes up s certain volume - space....now add Water and I've just INSTANTLY increased that volume...perhaps doubled it...

Three things can happen that I will experience....First, it may wash it down, Second it will create a lot of pain, probably dilating - expanding my pouch size (dangerous), and Third, along with pain, it will come right back up and out - overfilling and nowhere else to go.....

As far as liquid passing right through the band, I do not believe that. If so carbonated drinks would not be that big of deal. But they can be if you don't know what you're doing....

When I drink straight liquids I can also feel that in my pouch and pass through the band, and hear the gurgling like water circling the drain....and if I gulp water, (at the gym and not thinking) even without food present, it too has come right back up...again with pain, I have to sip water...

think of a funnel with a narrow passage. Cannot put anything in the top portion too quickly or too much.....and your pouch is elastic, it will stretch, and hurt.

But again, it all depends upon how tight your band is...for those without a fill you can get away with more than someone who is out there on the edge..like me.

I gulp my iced tea all the time and have never had a problem. Not even when I did drink and eat together, which I don't anymore. I have never felt my band tight either, so i don't know what that feels like. I like learning about everyone's views on drinking.

thanks!

My surgeon said that at the most recent seminar that he attended that current research has shown it does not make a difference whether you drink before, during, or after a meal. However, personally for me, I am unable to drink with eating. It will bring up my food 98% of the time! I think it is a personal thing. When you try different things, you will figure out what works best for you! When I was first banded my surgeon recommended no liquid 30 minutes before. No liquids with meal. Then no liquid until 45 minutes after a meal. Now after the last seminar he still gives those guidelines, however, he says they are not set in stone and encourages us to find what works well with us personally. Every person is different and every band feels differently in each person. I still prefer the old way and it was never really hard to follow.

well shaz i am agreeing with...different doctors and different answers...so i will tell what my dr advised me to do, as well as my nutritionist and so i drink right up until i eat and then wait 20 to 30 minutes. ...

ask your dr to get your answer.

B-52: I appreciate the detailed response and the different scenarios that have happened based upon your experience. These are the types of posts that educate all of us to make the right decision for ourselves. Two common things I often read : listen to you body's signals and ask your doctor.

I mostly do not drink and eat together because often it makes me sick or I get full feeling. Also my doctor says not to.

You shoud not drink an hour before and after you eat. The purpse s to allow the food to stay in your stomach for as long as possible and not wash it away with a drink.

Everyone is told different. I was told to drink before I eat. Stop then wait an hour. I usually wait about 45 minutes.

Here's another take on drinking:

Where was the drinking bit in this, did I miss something.